BARNALA

History

Barnala was named after Baba Ala Singh. Previously it was a district headquarter in erstwhile princely state system, it was later merged in PEPSU ( PATIALA & EAST PUNJAB STATES UNION ) and degraded as sub divisional headquarter.

Baba Ala Singh conquered Sirhind fighting his battles from this place. When he overpowered remote areas then from administrative angle he shifted his capital from Barnala to Patiala.

The part pertaining to markets of present Barnala city is about eighty years old. The initial Barnala belongs to fort, its surrounding population, Sandhu and Bajwa Pattis. Barnala, which at one time was the capital of province, was District Headquarter when Patiala province came into existence and Bathinda and Mansa used to be its Tehsils (sub-divisions). At the time of independence of India, Bathinda became separate district. After India got freedom, in the year 1954 following abolition of provinces new state of Pepsu was made. Then too Barnala was districts headquarter and Rampura Phool and Malerkotla were its Tehsils (sub-divisions). When Pepsu State with Patiala as its capital was disbanded and merged in Punjab then status of Barnala district got degraded. Now it is only a sub-division. Earlier on, Barnala being a district headquarter had District and Sessions Judge Court but when Barnala became sub-division, it was offered Additional District and Sessions Judge Court vested with all the District and Session Judge Court powers.

Barnala remained a nerve-centre of special activities during Praja Mandal movement and S. Seva Singh Thikriwala was also a prominent Praja Mandal activist who was born in village Thikriwala just four kilometers away from Barnala. Every year on January 19, in his memory a three-day fair-cum-festival is organized where various political parties also host political conferences.